Ahmadulah Nazik, who is the administrator of Dand district in Kandahar province, said Rahmatullah Khan died Saturday while trying to reach a police outpost under Taliban attack.

The killing comes a day after four policemen were shot dead in southern Helmand province by their own colleagues. Taliban spokesman Qari Jusuf Ahmedi said the killers fled and joined the guerrillas.

The U.S.-led NATO coalition is continuing its drawdown toward a planned withdrawal of the majority of combat troops in 2014. Insider and other attacks have thrown doubt on the capabilities of the Afghans to maintain control after the transition.